2012 has ended and 2013 begins ending with gratitude for new friends and experiences that make up an exciting journal.
Last night, I joined Folk Soul Revival onstage at One 12 Downtown in Johnson City for another memorable concert. The congregation was dressed in their holiday best with some driving in from Nashville and North Carolina.
I arrived early and had sushi with Daniel and Mandy Davis. We shared a few moments with Raphael, who manages One 12 and he was excited to begin the evening. They had gone the extra mile too. They had moved the DJ booth completely out of the venue and placed a riser and hired Radar from AV Integration to run sound for the band tonight and the setup was first rate.
This was an interesting show too. Earlier in the week, I had seen where they are were planning to perform two of their original albums, “Words Off A Tongue” and “Prompting the Dapperness” in their entirety.
Kidding them about a “Double Live” set, many of the songs we played last night had never been performed – especially those by the late Allun Cormier. Those were the most stirring moments too as “Sam’s Gap” and “Slide Away” were finally back in the night air.
We played right up till midnight and took a moment to watch the ball drop on the screens surrounding One 12.
As in the year’s past, I felt like a spectator once again, but that seemed Ok this year. Sometimes, you don’t find yourself in the arms of one, but rather in the embrace of many and sharing musical experiences with Daniel, Justin, DV, Brandon and Dan Witt have left me thankful for our time together with their terrific music and fan base.
After everyone shared their midnight kiss into the New Year swaying with the crowd and Auld Lang Syne, we jumped back on the stage and romped through another hour of rowdy cover songs including Mumford and Sons, Tom Petty, Bill Withers and Prince.
There were plenty of law enforcement out last night. Coming home there were at least six patrol cars with blues blazing in downtown Johnson City and three others on the way back to Kingsport.
To wrap up the night, I decided to drop in on my friends at Perkins. I was pleased to share the early moments in the morning with Tommy Dickens and his wife Janice. Tommy has been playing music for well more than fifty years in the region. He’s been married to Janice for 48 of those years and they seemed like two kids late in the night. Tommy has been playing with the Jerry Pearce band and he was dressed in black and just as excited as myself to ring in the New Year sharing the music.
So 2012 is in the books – or for that matter on the blog. 2013 begins anew with dinner with a very special friend this evening and I can’t wait.
This coming weekend, JV Squad will take the stage at 620 State in Bristol and the next gig with Folk Soul Revival will be an important performance at the Lincoln Theatre in Marion for PBS.
Gonna be another great year folks. Hope yours is equally and excessively more joyful.